


Oma’s story

by Jen425



Series: A Hundred Heroes Welcome You Home [64]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Zi-O, Tokusatsu
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Backstory, Foundation X, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 46
Words: 9,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26344210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/pseuds/Jen425
Summary: Average Highschooler Tokiwa Sougo…Or: how Oma Zi-O rose to power
Series: A Hundred Heroes Welcome You Home [64]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782238
Comments: 115
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Double drabbles for the 20 main Heisei Riders, 63 chapters for the 31 years in the Heisei Era (x2) +1 for the future.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

The RideWatches don’t function as intended. Yes, they steal the powers and existence of a Rider, but the results comes out… twisted.

Foundation X has their hands in every pot, but this one is uniquely important. Riders will no longer be a threat, soon.

these twisted Riders, labeled Another Riders, are unpredictable, however. These powers weren’t supposed to have the usual volatility X funds.

Tokiwa Junichiro is a welcome boon. A good man, but he is supposedly so excellent at fixing watches that they hire him to fix the problem.

(Luckily, they had already taken out those Another Riders created by Showa’s Kamen Riders.)

Junichiro is clueless, but his reputation is earned. They let him work, when he makes…

Of course, scientists murmur. A belt is needed to control powers stolen from Riders.

But Riders are always dangerous. A history of being made for evil and used for good.

That should have been the warning.

Tokiwa Sougo, ordinary high schooler who’d dream of becoming king to help people even without being told, whose parents are still dead, comes home from school and doesn’t know what path he begins when he picks up the first RideWatch the master clockfixer had created.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s this?” Sougo asks, holding up the RideWatch, though he doesn’t yet know what it is or means.

“What’s this?” Sougo asks, holding up the RideWatch, though he doesn’t yet know what it is or means.

“Just a watch I’m fixing up,” Junichiro replies. “They gave me spares, would you like to keep that one?”

“Sure,” Sougo says, smiling brightly, and Junichiro can’t help but smile in kind. When Sougo was nine, his parents had died in a motorcycle accident. He had raised Sougo for half his life, and he would do many things to make him happy, when he’s often so alone.

“It works with this belt,” he says, gesturing. He explains. “I don’t quite know the intention of these clocks.”

Sougo spins the one in his hands around.

He doesn’t mean to activate it, it just says the word into his hand, forming a unique clock face as he turns it.

**Zi-O**

“Hey, look at this,” he says. Junichiro walks over, and he looks. “It said ‘Zi-O’.”

“I guess this means I fixed it, then,” Junichiro says. He’s made two of the belts, and thus gives Sougo one. “Here, to complete the set.”

Sougo smiles.

(The worry of working with Rider powers: it has a history of turning itself into a force of good.)

(For now.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokiwa Sougo wants to be king.
> 
> He knows it’s a strange desire. A strange life goal.

Tokiwa Sougo wants to be king.

He knows it’s a strange desire. A strange life goal.

But he knows he can do it, too! 

The rulers always saved everyone, they were good, and he’d be good! That’s what stories told him.

And then he grew up, and he realized being a king wasn’t like that, especially in the modern day. 

But he never lost his drive because he also learned, eventually, that if he had all the power, people would have to listen to him. And he  _ will  _ be a good king. He’ll protect people, make them all happy.

He’ll learn from the past. What made kings and emperors great, how to do that.

He wants to be a king so that he can help the most people.

There’s a monster in front of him, and people are running away, and Sougo was messing with the Driver and the RideWatch that will decide his fate.

But these people are his future subjects, he has to take care of them, and so he faces the monster.

It’s a mere happy coincidence that he places his Driver near his waist, but it’s convenient.

He becomes Zi-O with only the best of intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And three chapters in, we get our Rider!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foundation X is angry. There is a boy with a Driver and they know how this goes. But they cannot allow it, not for this project…

Foundation X is angry. There is a boy with a Driver and they know how this goes. But they cannot allow it, not for this project.

They’ve grown tired of their efforts spawning the very Riders who oppose them.

But they won’t do anything rash. It would be better to take out the problem quietly.

But Sanjo Makito developed the Another Ridewatches; he is angrier than anyone else.

So he took a blank RideWatch, and he dug up two lost souls in their New World, and he went after the boy who had made new powers, who’s _fated_ to become a Rider, for better or worse.

  
  
  


Sougo doesn’t yet use this name, but he is now Zi-O.

There’s unfamiliar armor around him and not enough time to think about what that means, because there is a monster with red and blue skin that says “Build” in roman letters and “2018”, and somehow Sougo thinks he can fight.

So he does.

He fights and somehow he wins.

But he’s alone, and so he does not know what to do when in place of the monster a human man stands, holding a device not dissimilar to the one at Sougo’s own waist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! I got to introduce Sanjo!
> 
> He’s a fun villain and I like evil scientist villains in general. We’ll see how this goes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanjo Makito takes five seconds to stare at the boy before he takes a second RideWatch from the pocket of his jacket. Unofficial, in endless trouble if he fails, he does not wear the clothes of Foundation X

Sanjo Makito takes five seconds to stare at the boy before he takes a second RideWatch from the pocket of his jacket. Unofficial, in endless trouble if he fails, he does not wear the clothes of Foundation X.

He becomes Build again, Build again but twisted, and a boy in armor that says “Rider” over his eyes is still good and now is scared of this fight, just a little, because maybe the person before him will have to die to defeat him.

Sanjo Makito has no similar doubts, but his desire to destroy the belt of this boy, the RideWatch that was not made of stealing powers from the powerful heroes his organization has fought, wars with his desire to discover why such things had appeared.

Horrifying monster eyes glare at Tokiwa Sougo, and he doesn’t know what to do but run back to the one man he trusts.

Sanjo Makito follows from afar, because at the end of the day, he is a scientist, and he wants to figure out what a simple clock fixer had done.

A clock fixer who finds his nephew who he’d raised entering the home shaking and confused, and who has no answers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamen Riders are urban legends. This fact is not a new one. There’s no tracking them down unless you know what to look for.

Kamen Riders are urban legends. This fact is not a new one. There’s no tracking them down unless you know what to look for.

Especially not when they are being systematically erased.

Build especially has never existed in this world for more than moments.

Unfortunately, Foundation X had been there for those moments, and with no leads, no collapsing of the worlds as time travel and a few too many time anomalies all found their way to giving a boy who would be king a helping hand, all Sougo has is his uncle and his belt and himself.

(Perhaps that is far too little to fight with.)

“I stopped him, but he just came back,” Sougo explains. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I wish I could say I had answers,” Junichiro replies, and he is scared. Clearly, whatever he’s been making is dangerous.

But Sougo is scared, too, and beyond that is the boy’s desire to help people, even if his chosen method is strange.

And Junichiro has finished a second RideWatch.

(Have you considered: Riders are born because of those they fight. A monster made of a Rider’s powers…

The powers want to go home, to a Rider.)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zi-O defeats Build

Zi-O defeats Build. Build is a man underneath, and no-longer-Build escapes, disappears. Sougo goes home and asks Junichiro what to do.

Junichiro doesn’t know what to do. He only knows that Sougo is confused, that they’ve both walked into something far bigger than he‘s qualified to understand.

He’s just a clock fixer.

“That monster scared people,” Sougo says. “Do you think I could stop monsters like it, in the future?”

His eyes are wide in the way he gets when he’s sure of something dangerous, and Junichiro suddenly _knows_.

“I’ll fix up the other little clocks for you,” he promises.

  
  
  


There are 20 watches he was given, no more and no less, and so Tokiwa Junichiro gets to work. He remakes each one, and he smiles because in this manner he can help Sougo, even as the boy starts something dangerous.

There is a folder of college exam prep papers in the trash, but Sougo wants this, for whatever reason.

Junichiro doesn’t truly think himself a pushover, but he has always tried to gives Sougo what he wanted.

One and two each now say “Zi-O” and “Build” when twisted. He wonders what the others might bring.

He hopes it helps.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo wonders if these powers wandered into his hands to help him fulfill his dream, his goal, his passion.

Sougo wonders if these powers wandered into his hands to help him fulfill his dream, his goal, his passion.

He wants to be king, and maybe it’ll help to have these powers, whatever they are, wherever they came from. Besides, they come to him. When he puts an empty RideWatch in his belt as he defeats these monsters,he gets their powers.

Build. Ex-Aid. Ghost.

(They’re empty words, just names to him.)

He can protect people with them, like a good king should; isn’t that his duty, his inherent plan?

He wants to be king so he can help people.

  
  
  


Sanjo wonders why he hasn’t been punished fully for his failure at first, but he quickly realizes that it’s because they _need_ his work.

Also, the RideWatches serve their purpose.

They destroy the Riders’ very existence, and only those directly involved in the process remember, only X’s archives are preserved.

Kamen Rider Zi-O is a single boy, and maybe he actually could be useful.

Sanjo’s first reaction may have been anger, but now…

He considers what his work has wrought.

He watches Tokiwa Junichiro fix RideWatches until he can edit the blueprints accordingly, if he so chooses.

(But he doesn’t.)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ex-Aid’s host looks like a normal man. He stares at Sougo in confusion.

Ex-Aid’s host looks like a normal man. He stares at Sougo in confusion.

And yet.

When Sougo goes closer, the man is up, ready to fight. He has a very nice gun.

“It’s my job to kill you,” he says. “I’m sor—”

A bullet rings out, but it is the man who was Ex-Aid, who had kidnapped and infected boys for an unknown cause, who falls.

And Sougo looks, and there is a man dead, and he is horrified, and yet.

And yet the man had tried to kill Sougo, and to kill and use innocents.

Somewhere, a sniper hit their target before a desperate man could leak plans to a boy who will be king.

  
  
  


Ghost collapses dead the moment he is defeated. Sougo knows enough English to figure out the implications, this time.

It’s a little bit less horrifying the second time, and Sougo is prepared, but he still leaves quickly 

There is a dead body and no answers, and Sougo is alone.

He doesn’t know what to do, what to say.

He leaves the body of a monster and has no way of knowing the ways fate wishes to send him down a similar path.

Not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …ngl I forgot how dark this fic got so fast. Whoops.
> 
> Next chapter: literally my favorite arc of this fic, and I’m the writer!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo first confronts the reality of his path after Another Drive appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I KNOW ThIS CHAPTER IS A DAY LATE SHUSH!

Sougo first confronts the reality of his path after Another Drive appears.

Foundation X has its hands in every pot. This being is their own first successful attempt at a certain species of android.

They’ve always been the type to merge techs to create something interesting.

It’s not the most sentient or powerful Roidmude, they didn’t want something dangerous, but it’s a machine. Dangerous.

Sougo realizes after he detransforms, however, that the monster he had just defeated is confused.

This is abnormal. Build and Ex-Aid had recognized their location in moments, and then they had attacked or run.

Ghost had been… had already been dead.

Drive is on the ground, not scared or ready to fight, but he is confused, and Sougo feels the sudden urge to help him, at that.

The fact that the man is in fact a robot does not even phase him, it merely interests him.

He names the man “Rento” after a childhood toy, and he takes the man home, and for a time he finds himself with an incredibly strange friend.

But Tokiwa Sougo doesn’t care. He thinks maybe he’ll make Rento a guard or an advisor when he becomes king, actually.

He’s happy.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rento” is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …you know the nice part of accidentally posting a day late is it means you get a new chapter even sooner, afterwards.

“Rento” is confused.

He knows he was supposed to kill Tokiwa Sougo, Kamen Rider Zi-O, as Another Drive, but here he is. Alive.

Alive, and the target is helping him up with a smile.

Alive and the target has given him a name, Rento, and the target calling him a “he” instead of an “it”.

Alive, and the target is smiling easily at him despite their previous fight.

They’re both alive, and Zi-O (“no, please call me Sougo, if you really want to come home with me. Or even just Tokiwa.”) is kind, and so Rento follows him home, happily.

  
  
  


“Uncle, look who I found!” Sougo says, as he enters, one hand dragging Rento behind him as though Rento couldn’t rip off his arm. “His name is Rento. The uh… the enemies were using him. Can he stay here, for a while?”

Tokiwa Junichiro, because of course Rento had been told to match that particular name and face, looks Rento up and down.

“You seem like a good enough man,” he says, at last. “I was going to rent the extra rooms, but if you really need it…”

And he’s smiling, and so is Sougo, and Rento is still confused.


	12. Chapter 12

Neon Ulsland keeps to a very tight schedule. Foundation X has their hands in every pot, and it’s her job to decide when and where and what and how much. But she has to admit…

For whatever reason, she has a vested interest in the Ridewatches specifically.

Maybe it’s that it was so unique, using the powers of the Riders with the strongest energy. Or maybe it’s that, according to said scientists, the project is going wrong in good ways.

Maybe it was because it was Sanjo’s.

But she doesn’t have the time for musings.

She has time for successes, which this problem hopefully is, and so she lets it keep going.

The Ridewatches are not, however, the only project she has to keep track of. There are many others, such as the Dai Mazines. This one is outsider, though she still watches it closely.

She keeps her watch and her work before her eyes, and she plans.

  
  
  


Sanjo Makito is intelligent. He discovers the Dai Mazines, and he thinks about how easily his observations of the Tokiwas could go wrong, especially with the presence of the Roidmude.

And he figures…

A few lives will be worth aiding his research.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo fights, and he wants to protect people. Junichiro explains that that’s definitely a good thing, because it helps people.

Sougo fights, and he wants to protect people. Junichiro explains that that’s definitely a good thing, because it helps people.

Rento is so interested by that desire, so much so that he wants to help Sougo.

But he can’t use Another Drive’s powers, not anymore. He’s just…

He’s just Rento. He’s just an android who Sougo befriended instead of destroying. Who Sougo smiles at and calls a friend and talks to about his dream, about becoming king despite the fact that kings have not had full power in most countries for many years, that he is related to none, anyways, because it’s how he thinks he can help the most people.

“I’ll be a king that forges my own path, I guess,” Sougo offers in explanation. “I’ve always known two things: I’m going to become king, and I want to help people.”

And Rento doesn’t quite understand, but he thinks that _he_ wants to help _Sougo._

So he says “I’ll support you.”

  
  
  


Sougo has to rescue him from that forest Gaim summons, and Rento wishes more than ever that he could help his friend fight. Help Sougo fight the monsters who had made him.

He wishes there was a way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Rento. I wish I could tell you…
> 
> Be careful what you wish for


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rento sometimes goes off on his own

Rento sometimes goes off on his own.

He likes it, because he knows about the world, and he knows his own feelings well enough, he thinks. But he likes to learn.

Maybe it’s because every AI has that drive to _evolve_.

Regardless, he sometimes goes out, and he thinks.

  
  
  


Sanjo got excellent information from the faux Roidmude, but he’s never been the most sane man.

The faux Roidmude has no dangerous information, not really. He’s not a loose end.

This is just a test to see. To see if the way Rider allies often surpass their limits hold true.

“Hello there,” he says. “What was it the boy calls you, Rentaro?”

“Rento,” Rento corrects, and because he isn’t human, he easily places the voice even before he turns to face the scientist. “You gave me the RideWatch and told me to kill Sougo.”

“I did,” Sanjo replies. “But I have something better to give you, now.”

Rento’s eyes narrow, and he is smart not to trust, yet…

“You can help Zi-O once,” Sanjo says. “Focus, and you have a form which can fight, but after you activate it… you die in 555 seconds.”

He says no more as he leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know for a Drive based character Rento has way too many Faiz references.
> 
> Oh well.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m fine, really,” Sougo promises, because he does notice the worried glances Rento and his uncle exchange about the burn on his side. “I just didn’t transform fast enough”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having fun with pain whoops. Oh man I Know what’s coming, and it’s… man

“I’m fine, really,” Sougo promises, because he does notice the worried glances Rento and his uncle exchange about the burn on his side. “I just didn’t transform fast enough.”

“You were hurt,” Rento argues. “That’s not fine.”

Sougo stops the urge to groan in pain too loudly as he pulls off his ruined shirt.

“It’s not that bad,” he says.

  
It hurts, but he’ll be fine. He’s found that he heals quicker, since he got his powers.

He’s more worried about Wizard, though. Him and Gaim have seemed to have… agendas?

They hurt more people.

  
  
  


Testing through criminals has worked for those they’ve funded, so once they figure out parameters, it’s easy to start passing out a few Ridewatches as they make them, starting with Gaim.

Three levels of proxies, as always.

It gets the job done. The unpredictability of the test subjects focuses Tokiwa Sougo’s attention.

  
  
  


It’s _fine_. Sougo says he’s okay, even as he’s bandaged up.

But Sougo is fighting to protect people. Because that’s what a king is supposed to do.

And Sougo says Rento would make the perfect royal guard, but when has Rento ever protected Sougo?

(He hasn’t.)

(Even as advisor, what could he do?)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Fourze is just another teenager. Not that other Another Riders weren’t people , but Another Fourze is just trying to help her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we enter… Fourze arc

Another Fourze is just another teenager. Not that other Another Riders weren’t _people_ , but Another Fourze is just trying to help her friend.

A year younger than Sougo, her friend even jumped in the way of the fight.

Unfortunately, Another Fourze is also a good fighter.

It was Rento’s idea to look into who Fourze is, and so when things go wrong, this time, he can’t deny that it’s his own fault.

Fourze is a girl with power and a desire to do something dangerous for her friend and in another world she would simply be one of many. But the powers she uses erased the heroes and the memories of monsters who would wander her school.

Zi-O is in her way, and she doesn’t realize how bad she’s gotten until her friend looks at her in horror and there is no armor protecting a boy not much older than herself from the attack which would have hurt the very person she cared about.

  
  


This is one “I’m okay” too many, for Rento. He looks from Fourze to Sougo, as she runs away, and he knows that he _will_ protect his friend next time.

No matter what, he’ll protect Sougo.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo keeps fighting.

Sougo keeps fighting.

Another Fourze is a girl with power, and anyone will easily talk about how power corrupts, but maybe sometimes it’s as simple as a child who made a mistake and doesn’t know how to fix it, so they double down.

Maybe the girl wearing a twisted parody of a hero’s clothes is on a rampage out of grief, not malice or any real plan.

And maybe that doesn’t forgive her, but it certainly explains her.

Sougo likes to think so, at least. Maybe it should have taken less time than it did, but the Another Riders have always been people. Maybe Another Fourze really is just a girl who needs help.

Who needs friends.

  
  
  


But there is another girl, the one who Fourze cited as her reason to become a monster.

This girl is terrified of her friend beyond monstrous looks. She is scared of her friend who is too possessive, too controlling, and now has power.

Another Fourze is dangerous and volatile and the second time her attack almost kills Sougo, Rento doesn’t even think.

He doesn’t even know these powers _are_ his without the Drive RideWatch until he sees everything slow down…

Oh.

  
  
  


Oh no.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 555 seconds is nine minutes and fifteen seconds and that’s enough time for Sougo to successfully defeat Fourze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah…this is gonna drag a bit.

555 seconds is nine minutes and fifteen seconds and that’s enough time for Sougo to successfully defeat Fourze.

Rento wills himself to return to his human form, but he knows it will make no difference.

It is now 421 seconds and Sougo is smiling at him.

“Rento, that was super cool!” He says, and Rento can’t help but smile back. “Why haven’t you done that before?”

“I can only do it once,” Rento offers. “It has a side effect.”

“What?”

Rento turns to Fourze first. She glares at him.

“You almost hurt your friend,” he says. “She was scared of you, but you have a chance to fix this, just like I did.”

“But…”

“You should go, now,” Rento says, because for this he wants to be alone with Sougo. Thankfully, the girl has the good sense to listen.

It’s now 370 seconds. Six minutes and ten seconds.

“Rento?” Sougo asks, and now his worry is obvious. “Are you okay?”

“I will die in five minutes,” Rento responds. “I’m so sorry, Sougo.”

“ _What?_ ”

“I had to protect you!”

“You’re going to die!”

Rento sighs.

“I know,” he says. “I… don’t want to die.”

“Then… why did you do it?”

“Because…”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 300 seconds. Five minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this arc drags, but I promise there is plot in here!

Rento trails off, unable to find his words.

300 seconds. Five minutes.

“Because I didn’t want to see you get hurt again,” he finally settles on. “I care about you so much, Sougo.”

“You’re the only real friend I’ve ever had,” Sougo says. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Rento smiles.

“I know,” he says.

250 seconds. Four minutes and ten seconds.

And then they’re hugging, and Sougo is crying, and Rento realizes that he is, too.

“You’re going to be an amazing king,” he says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be a better guard.”

“You were the best,” Sougo replies.

  
  
  


185 seconds. Three minutes and five seconds.

Sanjo watches.

It seems he was wrong. Nothing interesting would come of this, and so he walks into view.

“Such a shame,” he says.

The boy and the faux Roidmude turn to him, and the faux Roidmude even steps protectively in front of the boy.

“I thought the influence of a Rider would increase your potential,” Sanjo says. “I suppose I was wrong.”

“You made me,” the faux Roidmude says. Sanjo laughs.

“Foundation X made you,” he says. “I just used you to test my technology.”

“You made the Ridewatches.”

And Sanjo smiles.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My king,” He says, and he’s smiling, even though he knows he’s crying, and Sougo is, too, as he repeats it. “My king.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter always gets me.
> 
> Fun fact: had this planned before 01 did the thing

“By the way, Raito,” the man says. “Since you were an experiment, you’ll probably blow sky high at your death.”

150 seconds, two and a half minutes.

“That’s not his name!” Sougo yells. The man shrugs.

“It matters little,” he says. “Especially since he’s dying.”

And then the man leaves, and it’s Rento and Sougo once more.

120 seconds. Two minutes.

“I couldn’t care for even one subject,” Sougo says. “How do you think I’ll ever be king?”

“Because I died for you,” Rento says. “Being a king could sound like a stupid, impossible goal, but you want it so you can help people. Even me. Don’t you  _ dare _ give up because I finally managed my job as your guard.”

He pulls Sougo’s chin up, so that their eyes can meet.

“My king,” He says, and he’s smiling, even though he knows he’s crying, and Sougo is, too, as he repeats it. “My king.”

“My loyal guard,” Sougo replies with a smile. “I’ll miss you.”

30 seconds.

“I know,” Rento says. “I believe in you.”

25 seconds.

They take long moments, to be together for this last time.

And then it’s five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Two.

“I’m sorry.”

One…

Zero.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know! I’m a day late! I’m sorry!

“No!”

The word exits Sougo’s mouth too late.

And, to be clear, it truly does  _ exit _ his mouth, little characters in pink writing that reach out to stop the explosion and save Rento.

They do one of those things.

Frozen in time, a second after Rento had pushed him away, Sougo can see the lines of the fire exploding out from under Rento’s skin, even though the frozen fire is as hot to the touch as something moving.

Sougo stumbles back, confusion filling him.

What just happened? What did he  _ do? _

Why couldn’t he have done it even seconds sooner? Why couldn’t he have saved Rento?

What horrible thing in this world has caused his friend to die, made him to die once he used his powers once?

(A thought: what if a Rento was supposed to do this immediately, defeat Drive, change forms, wait 555 seconds, wait nine minutes and fifteen seconds, to kill Sougo?

But Rento… had become Sougo’s friend, instead.)

As the man from before returns, Sougo finds that he barely has the strength to muster anger at his friend’s arguable murderer.

And then he realizes.

He recognizes him.

From Sougo’s very first battle, two months ago.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanjo pauses when he hears the sound of an explosion behind him suddenly cut, and then he turns back to figure out what it is.

Sanjo pauses when he hears the sound of an explosion behind him suddenly cut, and then he turns back to figure out what it is.

He enters to find Zi-O on the floor, and the faux Roidmude frozen, mid-explosion, the word “no”, in glowing pink characters, floating in front of said explosion.

“Well this is unexpected,” he says. “Perhaps it is a good thing I’ve let you live this long.”

Zi-O looks up at him, pure rage filling the Rider’s features.

“You’re Build,” he growls. “You’re responsible for all of this, aren’t you?”

“I only made the RideWatches,” Sanjo replies, shrugging because to him that really is all it was. “Admittedly, using one myself was a mistake, but you shouldn’t have been able to activate a RideWatch like you did, and I was angry. It’s Foundation X that’s decided to test them by distributing them.”

“And who made Rento?” Zi-O questions.

“An acquaintance,” Sanjo replies. “Most of us know better than to mess with something previously established as dangerous to their creator in the sapient way. Besides, like I said… I just work for Foundation X.”

It’s rare that the villains have much loyalty, after all.

Sanjo has bigger plans.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rento is dead.

Rento is dead.

It takes a bit to process, really. Sougo comes home dejected and he says the words and then he doesn’t come down for a very long time.

It’s a school day, too.

Junichiro doesn’t say anything, but he knows he’s heard his charge crying.

He doesn’t mean to find Sougo!s old toy, either. But he does.

  
  
  


Sougo wanders down stairs the day after his only friend dies to find the robot he’d forgotten.

Rento.

Had he really been that simple? He walks over to it, picking it up and turning it around over and over until he catches sight of the text.

_ Will be the king. _

He thinks about the way Rento had called him “my king” in his final moments.

But then he thinks of Build’s user, of the mysterious “Foundation X” which Build had referenced.

The ones who started this have hurt people.

And to the end, Rento had believed in him.

Sougo doesn’t know what he’ll do next, but he supposes he can’t rest for long.

_ Will be the king. _

_ My king. _

He’ll protect his people, all people, from this threat.

As a king should.

(He confronts the danger, but he doesn’t stop.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, arc one is over.
> 
> On that note, I’ll be taking a posting break this week. I’d love to hear what you guys think so far!
> 
> Next chapter will be posted on 12/5


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo drops out of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re back! Welcome to arc two, folks

Sougo drops out of school.

It’s not like that much of what he’s learning is going to help him be or become a king, after all. Besides, he needs the time.

He’s alone. It’s all down to him, to find this Foundation X organization, and to… well, okay, he doesn’t know what to do _when_ he finds them, but that’s why! He needs time to figure it out.

His uncle can help, yeah, and he knows this will disappoint him, but this is what Sougo has to do, he thinks.

He’s pretty sure.

  
  
  


When Sougo first says he’s dropping out, Junichiro worries that it’s a response to grief. It’s about a week after he found Sougo on the floor in the dining room, staring at his old toy, and the boy has been mostly back to his old self since.

Not fully, there’s a new darkness in his yes that leaves Junichiro scared for the boy’s future, but he acts mostly as always.

“I’ve really thought about my choice!” Sougo says. “School, these last few months, won’t help me be king. But I do need to find Foundation X!”

The surety in his words convince Junichiro.

He hopes he’s right.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Neon?” Sanjo asks.

“Neon?” Sanjo asks. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I have the time to help you examine new partners.”

The woman in question shakes her head.

“I was just checking in on your project,” she says. “I know how long you’ve worked on it. And how hard.”

Sanjo smiles, slightly.

“And I know how skilled you are to have kept your position for twelve years,” he replies. “What’s your interest in me, now?”

“It really is just intrigue, Makito,” Ulshade responds. “So do tell me, how are you spending my money?”

Sanjo hmms.

“I want the Another Riders’ power to surpass Riders,” he says. “I’m thinking, to keep these tests going, it would do well to take a page from previous allies’ rule books and pick targets.”

Ulshade looks at the scientist.

“Oh?” She asks. “I take it you have someone in mind?”

Sanjo nods, gesturing his arguable boss over to his computer. She looks, and she finds…

“He works for Kougami,” she says.

“Since we made the OOO RideWatch already, that won’t pose a threat,” Sanjo replies. “He’s perfect.”

Ulshade gives her approval.

She has no idea that Another OOO is the test.

He’s a test For Zi-O.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo glares at the computer screen in front of him. Then he glares some more.

“Nothing!”

Sougo glares at the computer screen in front of him. Then he glares some more.

Of course a super secret organization doesn’t show up on fucking  _ Google _ , but still, it hadn’t hurt to try. For a week.

He groans, and he banks his head on the table only to see Rento-the-toy, now dubbed Rento Bot, watching him.

He keeps the toy there as motivation. It works. Sometimes.

This matters  _ so much to him _ , why is research always so hard? Well, except history. History’s fun because he get to learn about kings!

…yeah, he’s glad he quit school for this.

“What should I do, Rento bot?” He asks. The toy, of course, is silent. Because of course it is. It’s a toy.

Sougo decides to give up, for the day. Maybe he can take another look around town for the next Another Rider.

Somehow, he has a feeling Fourze wasn’t the last.

  
  
  


Though he does wonder… if the monsters he fights are  _ Another _ Riders, and Sougo is a  _ Kamen Rider, _ does that mean there are others?

Other Kamen Riders?

…no, that’s stupid. If there were other Riders, he’d have met them.

Surely, they’d help him.

(So close… yet so far.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *winces at tonal shift*
> 
> Next up is the filler arcs!


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I know this is a day late I’m sorry

Kobayashi Jiro wants power. He doesn’t know what he wants it for, save for the advantages which it would give him, which makes him exceptionally dangerous.

Nothing as dangerous as someone who wants something unending.

He’s working with a desire, however, which makes him OOO’s perfect host.

OOO’s powers, which simply appear on his desk. With a note.

_Happy Birthday, Another OOO._

_Use this to gain the power you seek._

Unfortunately, he is not particularly intelligent. Nor does he know someone is coming after him.

  
  
  


Sougo runs into the Another Rider on accident, but he recognizes the marking of one, by now.

A wandering Waste Yummy, in an alleyway. It’s rather a ridiculous place to find a monster, a man testing his powers.

Sougo’s just glad he found this one before it attacked anyone.

Another OOO stares at him, and then he attacks.

Sougo curses, quickly equipping his Driver. He doesn’t have a blank RideWatch with him!

But hey, he can use… Wizard, to get rid of this monster’s foot soldiers?

Yeah. That’ll work.

  
  
  


Unfortunately, OOO is also a raging coward, and those he escapes as Sougo fights.

But he does start his plan, with the new incentive of Zi-O.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter for the day. In other news: who else heard the Zi-O/Decade news and is ridiculously excited?

“Is he… trying to take over the world?” Asks one of Sanjo’s interns. “Isn’t that a bad thing?”

Sanjo merely hmms.

“I guess Another OOO is a failure,” he says. “No one wins with a half-baked plan to rule the Earth.”

  
  
  


“Uncle!” Sougo says. “Where did I leave the unused Ridewatches?”

He really should have remembered to grab a new one after defeating Another Fourze, but…

Well, he’d had a few other things on his mind, and then he’d just.

Forgotten.

Junichiro doesn’t respond, though, just points at the screen. Sougo blinks. Is that… Another OOO?

“I will take all the power!” the monster says on the screen as he releases his transformation to reveal a painfully average man. “And rule this world! Those who stand in my way will be destroyed!”

Sougo stares.

“That man absolutely could not be a king,” he says. “Wow. Anyways…”

Oh! Right. He leaves them on his Uncle’s workstation.

  
  
  


Despite being a coward, and fairly incompetent, OOO is incredibly hard to defeat.

Sougo stares over him, afterwards.

“You know, I’m fairly sure this is an act of terrorism,” he says. “Also, being king requires knowing why you want power.”

_ He’d _ do  _ so _ much better.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo bumps into his next enemy without realizing it, as she’s about to enter the warehouse where Rento continues to remain, frozen in time.

Sougo bumps into his next enemy without realizing it, as she’s about to enter the warehouse where Rento continues to remain, frozen in time.

“Hey!” He calls. “I probably wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”

The enemy to be turns, and she is a teenage girl, her phone in her hands and obviously taking pictures.

“Who are you?” She asks. Sougo just smiles.

“I’m Sougo,” he says. “What are you doing here, anyways?”

The girl laughs.

“I’m a detective,” she says. “…or, well, I want to be. I think this location is connected to these new monsters. What are they called, again?”

“Another Riders,” Sougo offers. The girl nods.

“I can’t find _any_ clean photos or videos of him, or the monster that fights him,” she says. “Not even the one who broadcast live!”

Wait. What?

“The monster that fights him?”

“Witness reports say that he uses the same technology as those monsters,” she says. “So I’m going to find both and fight them, like any good detective would do!”

Sougo shrugs. “Makes sense to me! When I’m king, you can be my chief investigator!”

  
  
  


The girl's name is Shouko; she goes home to find a RideWatch waiting.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouko fiddles with the device in her hands. She thinks about the boy she met yesterday, Tokiwa Sougo.

Shouko fiddles with the device in her hands. She thinks about the boy she met yesterday, Tokiwa Sougo.

About her own advice.

  
  
  


_“I’m trying to find someone too,” Tokiwa said. “Well, a group. They’re called Foundation X?”_

_Shouko hmmed._

_“I don’t think I’ve heard of it,” she said. “But I will tell you this. Finding them is easier if you draw them out. Make them find you.”_

_Tokiwa smiled._

_“I think that makes sense,” he says. “Thank you!”_

  
  
  


She has another two days before she has to go home. That’ll be enough time to find at least whoever is fighting the Another Riders, right?

Wait, there’s a button on this top of the device.

**W!**

Double… that feels almost familiar?

Well, no matter.

She thinks she might have a way to draw out _something._

  
  
  


Sougo stares.

_“You?”_ He asks.

The girl from before stares back.

_“You?”_ Her eyes widen. “Wait, does that mean that Foundation X is connected to…”

“They made the Ridewatches,” Sougo explains. “My great-uncle made mine. I promise you, I’m just trying to stop them.”

The girl looks him over.

“I don’t know why, but I believe you,” she says. “My name’s Myokoin Shouko.”

Sougo smiles.

“Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …yes, this is the aunt that Shu mentioned in “ Another Story Spinning the Truth”


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The likelihood of us finding Decade?”
> 
> “Incredibly low.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *skips Decade due to plot logistics*  
> *feels bad as a Decade fan*  
> *still does it for the sake of the narrative*

“The likelihood of us finding Decade?”

“Incredibly low.”

“Guess we should just skip it, then.”

  
  
  


Tokiwa Sougo is, apparently, a Kamen Rider. At least that’s what his belt always says. And Junichiro thinks…

He thinks, well, a Rider needs something to Ride, right?

But… but really, he’s just a clock maker, mostly a fixer at that! He can’t just, make a bike, right?

Unless…

He thinks… he fixed up the RideWatches Sougo uses. Maybe. Maybe he can use one of the blank ones. Make something… make something to help Sougo out, especially since he’s out three times a day looking for Another Riders.

  
  
  


Asking if anyone knows about Foundation X hasn’t really worked yet, but Sougo figures it’s better than the internet, which has turned up nothing useful. He thinks he found something about Neon something… or maybe it was Neo? Shin?

…yeah, his English isn’t that good.

“Uncle, I’m home!” He calls. The clockmaker looks up from his work, at that.

“You are!” He says. “Great. I made you something, but we should probably take it outside.”

He holds up a… new activated RideWatch?

Sougo smiles.

“Sure!”

  
  
  


Sougo looks over his new motorcycle.

This’ll make things so much easier!


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo really wishes Another Kiva’s grunts were as easy to defeat as Another OOO’s were. Unfortunately, they’re not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, have a Kiva

Sougo really wishes Another Kiva’s grunts were as easy to defeat as Another OOO’s were. Unfortunately, they’re not.

The man under the armor snarls.

“How did you even find me?” He asks.

“Coincidence?” Sougo offers. “It’s been happening a lot, lately. I didn’t mean to run into your lair with my new motorcycle. Still, I think it’s time to stop you!”

He does manage to make the RideWatch, conveniently.

Unfortunately, Another Kiva escapes.

  
  
  


Sometimes, Sougo dreams of not being alone in this, of some kind… team, who help him find the Another Raiders due to less than coincidence.

It’s not like he’s completely alone, of course. Shouko had given him her message from Foundation X, and his uncle made the RideWatches, and Rento…

Rento. His friend. His loyal guard.

He misses him, even though it’s been nearly a month. But Rento had helped him so much. He’s why Sougo knows the monsters he fights are Another Riders, for instance. He’d been Sougo’s  _ friend. _

Sougo fiddles with the new RideWatch in his hand. He wants to be king for everyone.

He’ll make a better world than this one, when he’s king.

It’s a hope that he needs to not just… shatter.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanjo found Another Kiva in an alleyway, the potential dangerousness of desperation.

Sanjo found Another Kiva in an alleyway, the potential dangerousness of desperation. He offered the poor man a bag of food and the promise of cash if he would just play along and also transform into Another Kiva.

The man _was_ desperate, and Sanjo’s offer was good, and so it worked.

Sanjo wants to test each and every potential. And maybe, _maybe_ he’s wrong, and an Another Rider will defeat Zi-O. But that somehow feels significantly less likely.

Tokiwa Sougo has, somehow, broken the nature of the RideWatches, and with the powers he showed upon the faux Roidmude’s death…

It’s dangerous to want to _harness_ the powers of Riders for less than heroic intentions, because a heroic one always seems to pop up in the process. But it’s a large reason of why Sanjo had joined Foundation X when given the offer.

Riders.

It really is a shame that they wasted the Showa Riders in the testing process, though.

  
  
  


When he discovers Kiva’s host, he takes the man home for the night.

(He has no way of knowing that one day the people he’s met as Zi-O will be his most loyal subjects.)

(Beloved by some, yes, but still alone.)


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re requesting testing rights for an Another Rider?” Sanjo asks. The other scientist, Mikage Kaito, nods.

“You’re requesting testing rights for an Another Rider?” Sanjo asks. The other scientist, Mikage Kaito, nods.

“I did let you use my Roidmude experiment,” he points out he slides the papers over. “And I considered everything, including the adverse effects, before requesting this. Besides, wouldn’t you like a fellow scientific mind to tell you how the experience as an Another Rider has changed since you began altering and upgrading the devices, to compare it to Build.”

Sanjo hmms. He does have a point there.

He was planning on doing it with the worm pretending to be his intern, next, but he could work with this.

The only problematic part would be taking precautions that Mikage doesn’t develop any clue towards Sanjo’s true plans.

“So you would go out after Zi-O?” He asks. Mikage nods.

“I want to see what powers he truly holds,” he says. “Especially because my experiment seems to have detonated improperly.”

It isn’t necessarily a threat. Mikage is like Sanjo, a scientist.

He did, however, just admit to knowledge of something incredibly dangerous to Sanjo’s agenda.

Sanjo gives Mikage the RideWatch, but he disables the filter which prevents the death of the user upon defeat.

Well, _oops._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, I have not forgotten about Rento. At all.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What is this place?” Sougo can’t help but ask, despite being alone. “How did I get here?”

“What is this place?” Sougo can’t help but ask, despite being alone. “How did I get here?”

“Oh, this?” A voice asks. “This should lead us to the Den-Liner.”

Sougo whirls around to find a man in the familiar white uniform he has a feeling must be Foundation X.

“Who are you?” He asks. The man shrugs.

“Mikage Kaito,” he says. “You might know me better from my work, though I hear you befriended it.”

No. It couldn’t be.

“You made Rento?” Sougo asks, and he can’t help the emotions in his voice, though he honestly doesn’t know of it’s grief or rage. The man smiles.

“It was a genius creation, wasn’t it?” He asks. “No matter what, eventually, it fulfills its task, destroys itself, or both. Admittedly, I considered using its kill switch upon hearing it joined you, but I figured things could get far more interesting.”

There are few things that make Tokiwa Sougo _angry_. It’s just… not his natural state of being.

There are exceptions, however.

Like the casual description of his lost friend as an object. A thing. An experiment.

Unfortunately, Mikage does not know this.

He puts up a fight, but Sougo is dangerous.

Deadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is a good character moment. This Sougo lost a friend… and he gets to STEW in that anger, stew in it in a way that our Sougo never could, when Tsuku&Geiz died.
> 
> It makes his anger much deeper.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo never gets the chance to answer his second question properly, because defeating Another Den-O does its job. He escapes, returns to his time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna preface this with the note that I knew nothing about Kabuto when writing this. From here to Blade, I was flying blind. (Have since seen Kabuto and half of Hibiki but still)

Sougo never gets the chance to answer his second question properly, because defeating Another Den-O does its job. He escapes, returns to his time.

He truly thinks nothing of it.

(But that’s always his problem.)

He tries not to think of it, the horrible man that made Rento.

He doesn’t know if he succeeds, because he finds himself with nightmares, that night.

  
  
  


“I know what you are.”

The Worm currently disguised as a Foundation X intern turns to his arguable supervisor.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he says. Sanjo merely laughs.

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I don’t particularly care. I just figured… Kabuto should be used by a Worm, don’t you think?

The Worm glares.

“I could kill you,” he says. “Maybe even replace you.”

Sanjo hmms.

“You  _ could _ ,” he says. “Or you could give this RideWatch to an ally, have them run around and wreck a little chaos, and not waste effort silencing me.”

The Worm almost growls. Sanjo has just a bit of a point.

Unfortunately.

  
  
  


“Sougo?”

“Rento?”

Sougo stares, it shouldn’t be possible! He can still feel where he has Rento frozen in time, at the edge of his mind.

And yet, here he is.


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Using a robot’s human form as a disguise is strange, though at least his appearance is dissimilar enough to the borrowed face to give the worm the right memories.

Using a robot’s human form as a disguise is strange, though at least his appearance is dissimilar enough to the borrowed face to give the worm the right memories.

But it at least gives the Worm an in with Zi-O.

Zi-O could easily ruin their future plans with the powers he has available. Buddy up and stab him in the back.

Maybe going straight to clock up would be more practical, but he’s always been just a bit of a sadist.

  
  
  


Sougo figures it out on day one. He visits Rento.

Rento is unchanged.

“Who are you?” He asks. Not-Rento laughs.

“Apparently, I’m ironic,” it says.

**Kabuto**

  
  
  


Sougo ends up using another armor to trap the Rider. He finds himself wishing for some help, right at that moment, because he had  _ milliseconds _ between taking off the current RideWatch and equipping a blank one before defeating Another Kabuto.

Then, he realizes, he can fight!

“Whoa,” he says. “Cool!”

He wins.

  
  
  


He tries not to think about that weird way Rento could slow down time as Another Drive, or in his true form right at the end.

He mostly succeeds.

  
  
  


Sanjo figures that this is exactly what he expected and moves on.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A teenage boy as Hibiki feels… fitting, more than a little bit. So Sanjo does it. He goes, he finds his target, he leaves the RideWatch in easy view.

A teenage boy as Hibiki feels… fitting, more than a little bit. So Sanjo does it. He goes, he finds his target, he leaves the RideWatch in easy view.

It works excellently.

Another Hibiki was chosen because he was a good fighter regardless of his form. A real fighter…

It will certainly be interesting, watching Zi-O he tested by an enemy who doesn’t just use  _ powers _ , who also uses skills.

Sanjo considers how long it would take Zi-O and Another Hibiki to meet and decides to give the Rider and semi-unwitting test subject a helping hand.

  
  
  


Sougo isn’t having the best day with this one. He’d been smart enough to follow the clue given to him with a good amount of trepidation, but it only lead to another Another Rider!

Well, okay, not  _ only. _ He’s always glad for coincidences and not-so-coincidences like this because it means  _ significantly  _ less people hurt, scared, to even sometime killed by the Another Rider in question.

He thinks he goes harder on this one, but it has been a  _ rough  _ past two weeks, what with first meeting Rento’s creator and then that not-Rento monster-turned-Another-Rider. He’s still determined, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t  _ hurt. _

But…


	39. Chapter 39

“I guess you’re just another bully then,” says Takahashi Jun. Of course the guy is, he’s just completely beaten him up!

The other teen looks confused as he detransforms. Which is really helping disprove Jun’s point because like this in his loose clothes and looking several inches shorter, he doesn’t exactly look like the guy that just completely and mercilessly attacked him for trying to get his revenge.

“A bully?” the “bully” asks. “I’m not a bully. Why did you use those powers, though? They’re dangerous.”

“I had things I wanted,” Jun growls. “Like revenge from people like you.”

“Oh,” The other teen offers. “I’m sorry. But… seriously, you could probably hurt someone badly!”

Jun scoffs.

“Like I care,” he says. “No one’s ever cared about me.”

“I mean, I’m sorry,” the other teen says. “Are you okay?”

Jun blinks.

“What?”

Sougo smiles awkwardly.

“I did probably fight tougher than I had to,” he says. “It’s just, the last two Another Riders, that’s what you turned into, they… had some connections to an old friend of mine.”

“They did?”

Sougo explains as he hauls Jun to his feet and drags him to 9-to-5.

…maybe Foundation X are the bullies, actually.


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uncle?” Sougo asks, trying not to reveal the surprise and slight hurt in his voice. Maybe a bit of betrayal. “Why did you become an Another Rider?”

“Uncle?” Sougo asks, trying not to reveal the surprise and slight hurt in his voice. Maybe a bit of betrayal. “Why did you become an Another Rider?” 

Junichiro stares.

“I don’t remember,” he says. “I know …”

Pushing himself to standing, the older man stands up, looks at the new RideWatch on his charge’s belt.

“I don’t know,” he repeats. “Maybe that’s on purpose?”

“What?”

“Well, if I were an evil organization, I’d want to use someone close to my enemies without endangering myself,” Junichiro says. “Probably. I’m just a clockmaker, after all.”

“Hmm,” Sougo says. “True. But if the Another Ridewatches have some sort of control function… why did they wait so long to use it?”

Junichiro shrugs.

  
  
  


Sanjo’s glad he waited this long to check the control function. Another advantage, and he needs all the help he can get.

Using Zi-O’s great uncle, well, that’s just pettiness. As glad as he is for the research gleaned, Sanjo is still slightly annoyed by Tokiwa Junichiro and his ability to make Another RideWatchs into something…  _ more. _

And maybe, maybe, it’s an obvious warning to Sanjo’s more crafty enemies, but Ulshade trusts him as much as one should trust a semi-sane scientist.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo dreams. He dreams of desolation and destruction. He doesn’t know the full story, but he knows he’s standing in the center of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: this is actually the last chapter I finished in order.

Sougo dreams. He dreams of desolation and destruction. He doesn’t know the full story, but he knows he’s standing in the center of it.

He can’t remember if he was the cause or the one charged with fixing it, perhaps both. The destruction or the healing of…  _ everything. _

He just knows that he  _ does _ have to fix it.

Even more than that, he always  _ knows _ that he is completely and utterly  _ alone. _

He wishes he could explain or remember more than that, but he never can.

(Maybe he created fate or maybe he simply predicted it.)

The dream fades away shortly after, regardless.

  
  
  


The night after he becomes an Another Rider, Junichiro finishes up all four remaining Another RideWatches, fixing them into the ones which Sougo uses.

He’s trying not to think too deeply about it. Sougo needs his help, after all. It does no good to make things overly complicated.

Sometimes he still doesn’t know what to do with Sougo, but he knows that Sougo is doing good.

So he supposes he’ll support it, and isn’t that the best he can do? To support Sougo as he fights monsters?

He thinks he might have overdone one of them, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …yes, that is the origin of the FaizPhone RideWatch. Sougo just doesn’t know that RideWatches turned into guns is an option.


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Sougo visits Rento

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is not close to the most interesting Zi-O thing happening today, but I hope you enjoy!

Sometimes Sougo visits Rento.

Frozen in time, he doubts Rento is aware, but he doesn’t want to forget his loyal guard.

“I’m find out more about Foundation X,” he says. “They’re everywhere. Maybe they’re here. I don’t know.”

The explosion is hot to the touch, so Sougo traces the lines of the word keeping Rento from full death with gentle hands.

“Apparently, you’re a Roidmude,” he says. “Well, kinda, I guess. You’ll die if I release you. But… but maybe… I think I can get you out, right? Since I froze you in time, maybe I can reverse it.”

He sighs, steps back and detransforms.

“Somehow,” he says. “I… I miss you, you know? My first loyal subject.”

He doesn’t cry.

By now, he has no more tears to cry. Just the determination to fight, to become king.

But it doesn’t take away the ache of losing his friend, not one bit.

“There hasn’t been any new Another Rider sightings in about a week,” he continues. “I figure one will come soon. You were the one to first notice the pattern. I… just wish it was as easy as people coming back from the dead. Like, magically.”

(But it isn’t.)


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A way to bring back those loved and lost…

A way to bring back those loved and lost…

Tokiwa Sougo is not the only one who has ever wished that, of course, and it takes a bit to discover a pattern in who this Another Rider is killing. Mostly because he doesn’t immediately consider that the supposed serial killer who only kills 23 year old Aries men is an Another Rider.

People can be bad. That’s why there are kings!

(Well, Kings can be bad too, but that’s just why  _ Sougo _ is a person who should become king! Besides, most kings have their good sides to learn from.)

When he does, it’s his usual form of coincidence. He sees a man following another, and so he follows them, and then he watches the former man kill the latter… with an Another Rider’s powers.

He doesn’t transform immediately, and that part is his fault, but he does transform. Another Faiz turns to him with terror in his eyes.

“Not yet,” Faiz says, worriedly. “It’s not enough for him yet.”

“…what?” Sougo asks. Another Faiz’s eyes narrow.

“I would let you beat me,” he says. “Can’t fail him again!”

Sougo sighs, decides he’ll ask after the fight, and attacks Another Faiz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …any discrepancies w/Another Faiz’s Canon powers can be justified by Sanjo doing stuff


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jojima Takeru died. He died in a car accident after having finally met his friend of two years, Hanaya Gen, in person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …I only just realized that first name. Whoops!

Jojima Takeru died. He died in a car accident after having finally met his friend of two years, Hanaya Gen, in person.

Gen couldn’t accept it, and so when he got the RideWatch, the note that says “You can revive the one who you love,” he took the chance. He saved Takeru.

Takeru didn’t know what happened, of course. Gen… doesn’t know what he’d think.

It had been… it had been a good month. Getting to know his friend in person after two years of only speaking online.

But…

  
  
  


Sougo stares, as he listens to the story. Had he…

Did he make the right choice?

And yet…

“I know how you feel,” he says, as the man in front of him starts crying. “I lost my best friend, my only friend, because he saved my life, and I wish I could bring him back. But killing people… that’s not how you fix it!”

Gen looks at him.

“Then what do I do?” He asks.

“Spend the days you have left with him,” Sougo says. “And just… remember him, I guess. That’s what I do.”

Gen sighs, standing.

“You’re a wise kid,” he says. Sougo smiles.

“As any king should be!”


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Mirrors, seriously?”

“Mirrors, seriously?”

That’s a good summary of Sougo’s thoughts on this one.

He’s almost glad, though, that this Another Rider seems to be the assassin type. Less people get hurt when the Another Riders are gunning for Sougo himself specifically.

But. Mirrors.

…yeah, this’ll be a bit of a challenge.

  
  
  


…okay, Sougo thinks, staring at the glass wall next to him. Not just mirrors. All reflections have it. Hell, he’d almost think it really was his own reflection if it weren’t for the fact that, last time he checked, he was Kamen Rider Zi-O not Another Rider… hmm, what  _ is _ this one’s name?

The Another Rider takes that exact moment to reappear.

Oh, it’s right there on the chest.

Another Ryuki.

  
  
  


Well, guess it’s time to transform and fight the monster before it decides to attack someone else.

  
  
  


“A mirror dimension?” Ulshade questions. Sanjo shrugs.

“It’s not like most anyone can even remember their existence,” he points out. “Besides, it should prove a challenge and a power resource.”

Ulshade looks him up and down. She knows he’s hiding  _ something. _

“Are things going according to plan, then?” She asks. Sanjo is turned away, but his smile is clear, regardless.

“They are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ulshade knows he’s planning something. If only she knew…
> 
> Also yes. Mirror dimensions plural. Because Zi-O decided a second one existed


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo gets pulled into a mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. So, DVZ sure has been a time. I am ignoring the Ohma stuff here but. Between this and a Zi-O rewatch, I think I need a month to do some rewrites of the final arc and. Process. In the meantime, please let me know what you’ve thought so far. Anyways, please enjoy the end of arc two.

Sougo gets pulled into a mirror. Which. Isn’t really possible?

But, well, he knows some of the Another Riders use magic, so… makes enough sense to him!

Anyways, now he can fight Ryuki full-on! Since it seems like no one else is around. And no more surprise attacks of jumping out of reflections at Sougo!

Sougo smiles.

“I think I can defeat you now,” he tells Another Ryuki, who is silent as Sougo transforms and then equips a blank RideWatch.

They fight, and Sougo thinks… do these moves seem really familiar?

They kind of do.

He does his usual double defeat of the monster, and then finds… himself? Glaring at him.

“You’re…”

“I’m you, of course,” the mirror says.

“Do you want to help me, then?”

The mirror laughs, darkly,  _ cruelly. _

“I know the same amount as you,” he says. “They told me to kill you and I decided to do it, is all. And no, I don’t want to help you.”

“Oh,” Sougo says. “Well then, bye!”

  
  
  


(They say in the future that even Oma Zi-O’s shadow and reflections have life. They never consider it was because a younger Tokiwa Sougo completely missed the moral of the day.

Oops.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops indeed, Sougo

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @flaim-ita or for just Toku edits @dancingqueen-mai


End file.
